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By Tom Carrier
WorthPoint Worthologist
WorthPoint is in a unique position to be the major source for information for all manner of antiques and collectibles from Mickey Mouse watches to Louis XVI armoires. The ability to search through sales records of over 300 auction companies should itself be the first step in evaluating the value of your one item or entire collection. Or you can talk directly to a Worthologist, a recognized expert in the field, who will provide individual evaluations at any time. Once you have determined value, though, what if you wanted to sell it? Can WorthPoint help with that? Thom Pattie, chief Worthologist of WorthPoint, says yes.
Say you have a one of a kind Louis XVI armoire. You know it has a great value and you need to sell it as part of an estate, for example. “In the Premier Brokering process, we shepherd the item through the entire process from the person posting the question on Ask the Worthologist,” says Pattie, “telling them how to photograph the item and what kind of photographs we need. We submit those to the auction companies, get the replies back, establish their terms, and other things that we can do to add value for the member.”
And it works. Just ask Tammy of Boulder, Colo. She picked up this unusual cityscape painting from a dumpster while working as a property manager about 10 years ago. She kept it, but she doesn’t know why. After seeing a local station talking about WorthPoint, she wrote in to ask if her painting had value. To Pattie, a trained auctioneer for 40 years, it did; it most definitely did. Pattie placed a value of her dumpster painting at well over $10,000.
The artist, Takanori Oguiss, a landscape artist of the 1930s, has always sold well at auction, Pattie determined through initial research. Auction companies sent in bids of $40,000 to $60,000, but after further research, Pattie determined that Sotheby’s has sold most of his work over the years. With an auctioneer’s ease, he came back with a Sotheby’s estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. “The end result was—seven months later—the painting that was sitting in a closet for 10 years, sold at Sotheby’s for $103,000,” Pattie says.
Makes you wonder what’s been sitting in your closet, doesn’t it?
For all that work and expertise, there must have been a cost to Tammy. “WorthPoint does charge a premium to the member,” says Pattie. “In the Premium Brokering Plan, we have a contract agreement that takes them through every phase of what we’re doing. It explains the percentage, which is 5 percent of the gross selling price.” But, if the item doesn’t sell or doesn’t sell at the reserve, then the member is not charged by WorthPoint at all.
So, here are the steps for a successful brokering opportunity through WorthPoint: Send a detailed description of the item that includes lots of photographs and all the measurements; Provide as much provenance as possible through letters or stories as you know it.
With online auction sales to review, experts to talk to, and now an experienced brokerage system to help sell when its time, WorthPoint is the one place you can go to find the worth of your item, anytime.
Watch a video of Thom Pattie discussing WorthPoint’s consignment services here.
Tom Carrier is a general Worthologist, with an expertise in a wide variety of subjects.
WorthPoint: Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles.
Tags: consignment, consignment and brokering, Premium Brokering Plan, Sotheby’s, Worthpoint
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on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Articles, Blog Entry, Fine Art, Paintings/Drawings.
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I have several Jewish paintings and lithos, original signed, dated, numbered, etc. Is there a market for these?
I also have California Ware pottery and some post war made in japan pieces that I would like to submit for estimate and Consignment sale.
I have 2 gallys full of antiques I would like to sell, so if someone would like to contact me. Feel free to do so. I own a antique restoration shop in the DC area. Colonial Restoration Studio
Dave
I have a large quantity of sterling silver and sterling silver flatware (Stekff Corsage pattern), including a solid silver wedding basket circa 1800. I also have a Steinway grand piano, built in New York on March 8, 1918, mahogoany, that I would like to sell. I have many musseum quality pieces in my home in addition to another house with some primitive pieces, along with the loft of a barn half full of furniture. Can you advise me on what I should do if I want to dispose of these items?
Thank you,
Anna Pearl May
Rentz, GA
478-290-7495 or 478-984-4442
apm917@yahoo.com
I have downsized and have some “family pieces” which may be of interest to people seeking Southern antiques. I do not have photo capacity at present, but am working to get this arranged. E.Peyton
I hae a genuine Charles Dickens artifact that I wish to sell. Can you tell me how to get the most for it?
I have some old records,coins,books and two lithographs of ships that I think may be worth something to someone and they are just collecteing dust.Please take me through the process of selling them step by step.
I HAVE SIGNED UP FOR THE 7 DAY TRIAL WHICH I COULD NEVER GET TO WORK. BECAUSE, I HAve SOME URGENT QUESTIONS ABOUT ITEMS THAT WILL GO TO AN ESTATE AUCTION SOON WITHOUT AN APPRAISAL. THE 7 DAYS ARE ALREADY UP AND NOW I am a paying customer without so much as an idea about how to get an online opinion about various things including an ancient bible translated from the original tounges with the number of printed copies on the inside cover sheet instead of any copyright. Would this mean that they are the only copies, or a first printing? I also have a 1927 first copy of the story “Wings” with photos from the film staring Clara Bow. I have a copy of a book on Human sexuality printed by the Eugenics Society of New York, A 1914 first edition of a book called The United States in Prophecy which could have been written yesterday, so relevant are it’s descriptions of Government corruption, Banker fraud and dark predictions that the end is near and the U.S. is the apocalyptic Babylon in scripture. Could you please respond Thankyou
old time sewing machine NEWHOME with stand. And a old time slicer machine that you hand turn wheelblade to cut.